Chernobyl (The TV show) and in TW2000

[dude_uk]

Has anyone else watched this

It aired on HBO in the US and SKY TV in the UK. Its an excellent show about the disaster and the subsequent cleanup, cover up, and trial. As its cold war based I thought it would be right everyone's alley.

It is not for the fainthearted. The effects of acute radiation sickness are on full display and even worse than Threads or The Day After.


Has anyone thought how Chernobyl affects TW2000 It could be picked as where ours and TW2000 timelines diverge. If the Soviet Union does not have to spend all those resources that it didn't have on a problem it really didn't need.

[Raellus]

I've got one episode to go and I'm really enjoying it. It does a really great job of hammering home just how terrifyingly destructive radiation is.

It's also a really effective at being simultaneously condemning of Soviet communism (and rightly so), and sympathetic to the the resilience and determination of the Soviet people (ditto).

Visually, it really captures the Brutalist aesthetic of Soviet architecture and design, and the authenticity of the Soviet-era uniforms, weapons, and vehicles is really impressive to someone who, like myself, grew up on the Hollywood kit-bashed "Soviet" AFVs and Hinds of Red Dawn and Rambo III.

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[StainlessSteelCynic]

Some friends recommended it to me knowing that I was interested.
However I would give anyone who has watched it or is intending to watch it, one BIG caveat: -

The show is a drama and as such there's a number of things that have been quite exaggerated or even just made up, to enhance the drama.
Do not take it as factual, always keep in mind it is a drama based on real events but it is not historically accurate in many ways.

There's a trend within the show to make certain figures within the Soviet heirachy as comically overblown as possible and abuses the stereotype that the Soviets would shoot anyone who disagreed with them. They also embrace the stereotype that all Soviet citizens were drunkards who were downing alcohol at any time of day or night.

The show is entertaining but I wouldn't use it as any sort of reference for nuclear power or for people from the Soviet Union (unless you are specifically looking to play the stereotypical vodka-swilling Soviet caricature).

For more info: -

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/chernobyl/

https://theweek.com/articles/844566/chernobyl-historically-accurate-about-things-that-matter

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2475038/chernobyl-how-factually-accurate-was-the-hbo-show

[Raellus]

There's a trend within the show to make certain figures within the Soviet heirachy as comically overblown as possible and abuses the stereotype that the Soviets would shoot anyone who disagreed with them. They also embrace the stereotype that all Soviet citizens were drunkards who were downing alcohol at any time of day or night.

I feel like we didn't watch the same series.

The following explanation may contain SPOILERS.

There are quite a few dissenting characters in the story- the two nuclear physicists, the minister sent to the disaster site, the miner foreman, just off the top of my head- and none of them are shot (at least through episode 4) or even overtly threatened with same.

I've watched 4 of the 5 episodes and I don't recall much drinking, or really any drunkenness, either. The dog-shooting detail drinks a fair bit, but not to the point of inebriation. That's the only drinking I remember.

[mpipes]

I'm planning on starting a campaign in Ukraine with a fair amount of activity in the area.

It is mostly depopulated with low levels of radiation.

Soviet troops pretty much refuse to go into the area, and with morale so low, higher command does not push the issue.

The area have become spec op central for NATO, with teams moving in and out of the area pretty freely. There is enough fuel for cargo flights in and out as well with several strips surveyed on the abandoned road network. There are a number of supply cache hidden about as well.

There are also a few surprises lurking about such as lion prides and elephants from abandoned zoos and a couple of circuses.

[Raellus]

@Mpipes: That's a really cool idea. I wish I'd thought of it.

I wonder how squeamish the Soviets would be about going in there once they knew that NATO SOF and or anti-communist (or pro-Ukrainian independence) partisan units were launching raids out of the area.

[mpipes]

Oh they know the spec ops guys are going in there! But none of the Pact troops believe for a second it is anywhere near "safe." Most rank and file conscripts believe that if they go into the exclusion zone they will get a lethal dose of radiation. The extent of the lies about the radiation levels have caught up with the government, and in fact, trying to send units into the area has caused mass mutinies and unit revolts and even mass defections to the Ukrainians (Ukraine is independent and a NATO ally). While there are pockets of high radiation, spec op troops going into the zone will only get 1 to 2 rads of exposure a week.

The Soviet invasion in 1997 resulted in a quagmire. The Russians managed to occupy Kiev and other areas up to about 100 miles beyond the border and then the Ukrainians held and stalemate ensued, because the Soviets did not have the troops to spare to drive forward, and the Ukrainians lacked the strength to kick them out. Mainly, the Russian Army concentrates on holding the railroad line that runs east-west through the ruins of Kiev. The Ukrainians concentrate on keeping pressure on the Soviets and causing a constant stream of casualties to erode morale and hopefully force the Russians to decide to pull the remaining troops out.

Its a fun little oasis surrounded by a sea of chaos - at least outwardly...there are surprises lurking about. Ever wonder what a pride of rabid lions might do to a hapless team

[Raellus]

Very cool.

And forget rabid lions. Think mutated lions!

[StainlessSteelCynic]

It might be worth lulling them into a false sense of security before unleashing the lions on them. Let them encounter the wolves and boars that made a resurgence in the Exclusion Zone.
It's Europe, they'd expect wolves and boars
Then spring the mutated lions on them!

[mpipes]

Bit off subject.....
A college friend was a mercenary in Angola in the late 70s. One day on patrol, the point man walked up on a bachelor lion guarding a kill about 25 yards away in the brush. It roared and charged.

EVERYONE opened up and the patrol managed to drop the lion about 5 yards from the point man, who literally needed to change underwear. My friend wore a large lion's claw on a necklace around his neck.

[therantingsavant]

I've got one episode to go and I'm really enjoying it. It does a really great job of hammering home just how terrifyingly destructive radiation is.

It's also a really effective at being simultaneously condemning of Soviet communism (and rightly so), and sympathetic to the the resilience and determination of the Soviet people (ditto).

Visually, it really captures the Brutalist aesthetic of Soviet architecture and design, and the authenticity of the Soviet-era uniforms, weapons, and vehicles is really impressive to someone who, like myself, grew up on the Hollywood kit-bashed "Soviet" AFVs and Hinds of Red Dawn and Rambo III.

-

My partner and I watched this and enjoyed it - the English accents were weird but preferable to low-quality Russian accents and in a way it helped make it more relatable perhaps

The Brutalist architecture and all the military equipment and uniforms were very evocative however even if the radiation sickness was exaggerated for dramatic effect - when you view it as coming from "how the survivors told it" rather than from science though it sort of makes sense and helps convey the horror and terror of the invisible sickness of radiation.

Makes me look forward to Zona Alfa actually...